Arbitrary detention /
Judicial harassment /

Fear of ill-treatments

Bahrain

April 21, 2011

The Observatory for the Protection of Human
Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received
new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following
situation in Bahrain.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing
incommunicado and arbitrary detention of Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, former
Regional Protection Coordinator at Front Line and former President of the Bahrain
Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).

On April 20, 2011, Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was
allowed to make a one-minute phone call to his wife. He informed her that he
was supposed to appear on April 21, at 8.00 am before the military court.
Before this call, Mr. Alkhawaja's daughter received a call from the military
asking her to bring clothes for him.

When his lawyers presented themselves before the
military court, they were advised that the hearing will not take place on that
date. They could not get any further information nor have access to their
client.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. Abdulhadi Al
Khawaja is being detained incommunicado since his brutal arrest on April 9,
2011 and that the charges pending against him remain unknown.

The Observatory firmly denounces the violation
of his right to due process and fair trial by the Bahraini authorities, his arbitrary
detention and the judicial harassment against him which seem to merely aim at
sanctioning his human rights activities. The Observatory is also deeply
concerned for his physical and psychological integrity.

The Observatory urges the Bahraini authorities
to take the necessary measures to guarantee the safety of Mr. Abdulhadi Al
Khawaja and all human rights defenders in Bahrain and, more generally, to
comply with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted on
December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights as well as international and regional human rights
instruments ratified by Bahrain, including the International International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Background information:

On April 9, 2011, Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who has
been organising peaceful awareness-raising and human rights education
activities for protesters in the recent weeks, was arrested at his daughter’s
house, along with two of his sons-in-law, Messrs. Wafi Almajid and Hussein
Ahmed, by masked policemen who forced entry to the building. The three
men, and Mr. Al-Khawaja in particular, were severely beaten up before being
taken to an unknown destination. Moreover, Mr. Mohammad Al-Maskati,
another Mr. Al-Khawaja’s son-in-law as well as President of the Bahrain Youth
Society for Human Rights (BYHRS), who has been monitoring human rights
violations committed since the protest movement began, and who was also present
in the house, was severely beaten during the raid but not arrested.

On April 10, the Bahraini authorities wrote on
twitter: “Al-Khawaja was arrested for charges to be brought against him
legally. He violently resisted the arrest and had to be subdued” ; the twit
then continues as “(Al-Khawaja) is not a reformer (...) He called for the
overthrow of the legitimate regime”. To date, no information has been given
to the family of Messrs. Al-Khawaja, Almajid and Ahmed neither on their
whereabouts nor regarding any charges pending against them.

According to the information received by the
Observatory about 600 people, including
human rights defenders, political leaders, trade unionists, doctors and
paramedics and clerics have been arrested since February 2011. The whereabouts
of a significant number of them, including prominent human rights defender
Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, remain unknown and access to them, including by their
lawyers, is not guaranteed for the majority of these detainees. Concern about
the physical integrity and life of those arrested are high, in particular after
four people arrested during the protests died in custody between April 3 and
12, 2011.

Actions requested:

The Observatory urges the authorities of Bahrain to:

i. Immediately disclose the whereabouts of Mr.
Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and all above-mentionned human rights defenders and ensure
their access to their lawyers and families;

ii. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Abdulhadi Al
Khawaja and all human rights defenders in Bahrain;

iii. Put an end to any acts of harassment, including at the judicial and
administrative level, against Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and against all human
rights defenders in Bahrain;

iv. Conform in any circumstances with the provisions of the Declaration on
Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations
General Assembly, in particular :

· its Article 1,
which states that “everyone has the right, individually or in association with
others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and
fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels” ;

· its Article 6
(c) which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association
with others to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both
in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and,
through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those
matters” ;

· its Article
9.3 which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in
association with others, inter alia […] to attend public hearings, proceedings
and trials so as to form an opinion on their compliance with national law and
applicable international obligations and commitments; and to offer and provide
professionally qualified legal assistance or other relevant advice and
assistance in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms” ;

· its Article 10
which provides that “no one shall participate, by act or by failure to act
where required, in violating human rights and fundamental freedoms and no one
shall be subjected to punishment or adverse action of any kind for refusing to
do so”;

· and its
Article 12.2 which states that “the State shall take all necessary measures to
ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually
and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de
facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action
as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in
the present Declaration”.

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and
international instruments ratified by Bahrain.